Hooper Bay Man Charged with Murder in Girlfriend's Death

March 27, 2013|By Chris Klint | Channel 2 News

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A Hooper Bay man accused of killing his girlfriend this week allegedly beat and stomped her to death during a drunken rage in a home where her two daughters were present, according to a complaint filed in the case.

A criminal complaint of first-degree murder in the death of 27-year-old Pauline Mann, filed by Alaska State Trooper Robert Bressler, says village public safety officer James Hoelscher told Bethel troopers at about 5:30 p.m. Monday that the accused -- 33-year-old David Hoelscher -- had spoken with police.

“Hoelscher walked into the Hooper Bay Police Department and stated, ‘I think I did something bad last night when I was drunk’ and ‘I think I might have killed my honey,’” Bressler wrote. “Two Hooper Bay dispatchers and (village police officer) Charles Simon heard the statements from David.”

Simon, who knew David Hoelscher was in a relationship with Mann, subsequently asked James Hoelscher to make a welfare check on his residence.

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“Upon arrival he saw Pauline unresponsive through a window of the residence and forced entry into the residence,” Bressler wrote. “With the assistance of a health aide, it was determined that Pauline was deceased on a bed in the residence.”

When Bressler visited the scene he found Mann’s extensively bruised body on a bed, with a 2-foot cross lying atop her chest.

Bressler says a statement from Mann’s 9-year-old daughter said that she and her 2-year-old sister were both at the home slightly after 11 p.m. Sunday evening, when “dad got mad at mom and accused her of doing a ‘bad word’ while she was in Anchorage.”

“(She) further stated that her dad started pulling her mom’s hair, punching, and kicking her,” Bressler wrote. “When asked where her mom was being punched and kicked (she) pointed to her chest. When (she) woke up the next morning, her mom was not breathing and her mom’s feet and face were cold.”

According to Bressler, David Hoelscher said in a statement to police that he and Mann were drinking homebrew alcohol Sunday night when he attacked her, because she had cheated on him during her visit to Anchorage.

“He grabbed Pauline by the hair and was throwing her around the house. David stated he also punched her multiple times on the face and all over her body,” Bressler wrote. “David also stated that while she was on the ground by the bed he stomped on her stomach and that’s when he thinks that he killed her.”

Hoelscher allegedly told police that he slept on the couch while Mann was on the floor. He woke up to find her daughters crying next to her, since she wasn’t breathing and cold to the touch.

“David put Pauline on the bed and (her elder daughter) put a religious cross on her chest,” Bressler wrote. “David (and the daughters) then left the house and he sent (them) to their grandparent’s house and he went to Hooper Bay public safety.”

According to AST dispatches on the case, Mann’s next of kin were notified Monday. David Hoelscher was arrested Tuesday and charged with murder.

Editor’s note: Details that would identify the children have been omitted from this story.